Patients, prescribing, and benzodiazepines.

In order to establish the current status of benzodiazepine prescribing and also to assess patients' attitudes towards the use of these drugs, we interviewed 450 consecutive patients in 16 community pharmacies about their use of benzodiazepines. Prescribing rates increased ten-fold from the age of 20 to 70 years and were higher in women than in men. The average dose used in the elderly seemed excessive and the choice of hypnotic often inappropriate. The median duration of benzodiazepine use was 2.5 years (range 0-25) and 66% of the patients had been taking benzodiazepines for one year or more. Most of the patients (97%) found the drugs effective in the treatment of anxiety or insomnia. Twenty-two percent took a lower dose than prescribed and 7.5% a higher dose. These data suggest that benzodiazepines are prescribed for excessively long periods and that greater caution is needed in prescribing benzodiazepines for older patients.